Rejection Can Be a Good Thing
by maureenbrown
Summary: For the first time in his life, Jay has been officially rejected. Thankfully, Carlos is up for one last dance with him. Set after the end of the movie. One-shot, with Jaylos/Jarlos, with mentions of Bal and Dougie.


Disclaimer: This took me way too long to write. I started to write smut, but it failed terribly. There's no way in hell I'm attempting that again. Anyways, R&R!

x-x-x

For the first time in his life, Jay has been officially rejected. And to a simple dance.

Tonight was supposed to be a joyous occasion, as it was for mostly everybody. Mal and Ben snuck off to who knows where, Evie and Doug were dancing outrageously with one another, and even Carlos had been nice enough as to ask Jane to dance.

Of course, Jay had to ruin it all for himself by asking Thalia, the daughter of Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen to dance. To be fair, she'd been giving him mixed signals all night, like glancing over in his direction several times and visibly checking him out.

Turns out, things must always go wrong when you pluck up enough courage to ask people to dance.

Jay scoffs as he leaves the party, heading off to the tourney field. He just really wants to be by himself, without the booming of music and lingering memory of refusal.

As he arrives at the bleachers, Jay can still hear the faint ringing of spontaneous singing (honestly, that was all the people did here).

He climbs upon them, getting to the top, before pulling his hair out of his bun. Jay yanks his maroon beanie out of his pocket and pulls it over his head, hoping to at least dim the noise a little bit.

There's a tap on the metal of the bleachers, making Jay turn. It's Carlos, at the bottom, smiling a little at him. "Can I join you?" He asks.

"Weren't you dancing with Jane?" Jay dodges the question.

"I was. I noticed you walking off, so I thought I should go after you." Carlos explains.

"Well, you can save your pity. I'm fine." The son of Jafar snaps.

"Just come back with me, Jay. It's just one girl, there are plenty of others."

"That's the thing, Carlos, it's _one girl_. I've been able to woo everybody but her."

Carlos clambers up next to Jay. "This is the first time, isn't it?" He's implying being rejected.

Jay sighs, but nods.

"Hey, look on the bright side. Of all the people you've gotten to fall for you, only _one_ of them didn't like you back."

Carlos is kind of right, and he's less bummed out now.

"I, on the other hand, am still in shock that Jane said yes." The son of Cruella says with a chuckle.

"How come?" Jay asks.

"I haven't done tons of asking, but she's one of the people that hasn't said no."

"I can't imagine why." Jay says with a shrug.

A genuine smile lights up Carlos' face. "Thanks."

"Wait, I didn't mean to compliment you…" Jay recovers, glancing frantically over at Carlos.

"Too late, I've already accepted it without your permission."

Jay scoffs at Carlos' fond immaturity, bonking their elbows together. No, it's definitely not because he wants an excuse to touch Carlos. He's just one for social contact with mostly anybody.

"You wanna dance?" Carlos asks out of the blue.

Jay looks over at the son of Cruella with a grin, only to find that Carlos looks completely serious. "Really?"

"Yeah, I won't say no." He teases.

"On the bleachers?" Jay is still incredulous.

"Of course. Unless you're too scared." Carlos taunts.

"Of course I'm not." Jay snorts as he grabs Carlos' hand and pulls him up.

They stand on the very top of the bleachers, hoping that they don't accidentally slip and tumble. Jay lets go of Carlos' hand to plant it on his waist, pulling them closer together. The son of Cruella steps forward, looping his arms around Jay's neck.

Ironically, a slow, quiet tune can be heard back from the party. Jay and Carlos shuffle back and forth on the bleachers since they're unable to turn.

Jay finds a tranquil smile on his face and he succumbs to his happiness, pulling Carlos' body closer. The son of Cruella lets out a single laugh before resting his head on Jay's shoulder.

They're both warm, even though the night is starting to get chilly. Jay doesn't resist holding Carlos tighter; he's like a heater and the son of Jafar is almost mad to not have done this sooner.

When the song stops, so do the boys. They continue to hold each other close, Carlos burying his face into Jay's neck fondly. Jay can't tell if the other is grinning, but he for sure is.

"God, you're so cold, Jay." Comes a mumble against his neck, sending shivers up his spine.

"Heat me up, then." Jay smirks, slightly detaching himself from Carlos.

Carlos leans back and studies him, his hands playing with the tops of Jay's hair.

Jay does the same and overwhelmingly starts to feel like he's seeing Carlos for the first time. It's strange, and he's guilty for not noticing how gorgeous he is. Yes, gorgeous. His skin is pale, but not too much, accentuating his freckles. His brown eyes are so dark they're easy to get lost in. Also, Jay's totally into the white hair. It suits him. He knew Carlos was good looking, but he never thought much of it.

"I'll heat you up, alright." Carlos snaps him out of his stupor.

Before he can ask Carlos how, the son of Cruella is leaning against Jay on tip toes and fitting their lips together.

Jay's mind goes blank. Carlos' kisses are soft and sweet, unlike the usual steamy ones he gets. There's a bit of chocolatey taste to his lips. He concludes he likes these type of kisses better, especially from Carlos.

On instinct, he angles his head and kisses Carlos back, his eyes drooping shut. The other boy lets out a small hum, probably because he's glad Jay didn't shove him away.

The son of Jafar is kind of embarrassed at the growling sound he makes. Hey, Carlos is super cute, but Jay can't deny he can be hot too. Especially right now.

Deciding the pace is all too slow, he hoists Carlos up to his waist, gripping Carlos' thighs. Getting the memo, Carlos wraps his legs around Jay. Jay's careful not to drop him, after all, they're still on the bleachers.

Being the more experienced one, Jay turns his head more and slips his tongue into Carlos' mouth. The son of Cruella moans loudly and Jay has to stop kissing him.

He cautiously gets down on one knee, one leg holding him above Carlos on the bleachers. Jay makes sure Carlos is fine laying down, then crawls and hovers above him.

Jay leans down so that their lips are centimeters away, but doesn't brush them together. Their breath combines with each other's and Jafar's son takes a minute to absorb the situation.

"Can I tell you something?" Carlos asks softly, his eyes straying from Jay's lips to see him fully.

"Yeah, of course you can." Jay replies. He's a little worried, but he has to trust that Carlos won't abandon him.

"I think I'm in love with you. I don't really completely understand what it means… But, I know this much." He confesses.

Jay's confused. How could someone so perfect like Carlos fall in love with a train wreck like Jay?

He reminisces about all the important moments spent with him. Carlos jumping into his arms when he gets scared, playing tourney with him, sharing tons of laughs along the way, Carlos wolf whistling at Jay when he came out in his new tourney jersey… It all adds up.

Jay might not have been the brightest, but he thinks he should've noticed those things. And how specifically he felt around Cruella's son.

He closes his eyes and imagines Carlos grinning up at him with chocolate smeared on his lips and his heart flutters again.

"I don't know if that's the best decision to make." Jay says honestly, opening his eyes again. He doesn't know how to love or be a good boyfriend, despite what he feels. He doesn't want to hurt Carlos any more than others have.

"I don't care, Jay. Whatever we are isn't going to be prefect, and it shouldn't be." Carlos says persistently.

"I guess I'm just… I can't find the word." Jay trails off. He now recognizes the feeling. Fear, that's it. It's a different type of scariness than Maleficent-will-kill-me-if-I-don't-steal-the-wand, but just as terrifying.

The bleachers are cold, so Jay leans down and nuzzles into Carlos' warm neck, right next to his ear. "I want you to know I don't think of this as a one night stand. Whatever you feel, that's how I feel."

A shiver runs down Carlos' spine at Jay's surprisingly sweetness.

He turns his head to the left to gaze at Jay. "For the record, I'm glad you got rejected."

"So am I."


End file.
